Northern Health has formed a new task force to address ongoing emergency room (ER) closures in the Northern Health region This year alone, there have been 11 service interruptions, with six in January and five in February. The closures are primarily due to a shortage of physicians, and the newly established Emergency Department Stabilization Task Force is working to find solutions, including recruitment incentives, temporary staffing, and the potential use of virtual services.
Northern Health is actively recruiting physicians to the area, with two expected to start in Burns Lake this spring. The hospital is fully staffed with registered nurses, and staffing issues are mainly related to the physician shortage, which has resulted in a 55% vacancy rate for ER coverage.
The Ministry of Health and Northern Health are offering a variety of incentives to attract physicians to rural communities. In the event of ER closures, patients requiring life-threatening care are advised to call 9-1-1, and local health partners like BC Emergency Health Services are notified to ensure patients are quickly transferred to the nearest available facility.
Despite recent closures, Northern Health has seen a 22% reduction in service interruptions compared to the previous year, highlighting ongoing efforts to stabilize emergency services in the region.
Northern Heath also added this information through an email
The Northern Health Emergency Department Stabilization Taskforce was established in May 2024. It was created and is led by Northern Health President and CEO Ciro Panessa. The aim of the taskforce is to provide focused, coordinated strategic leadership to bring all possible solutions to bear to further mitigate or prevent emergency department closures. The taskforce has worked to identify and implement short-, medium- and long-term solutions to the challenges facing northern B.C. hospital emergency departments.
Some successes the taskforce has had to date include:
- Expediting the Rural and Remote Recruitment Incentive, which provides a recruitment bonus of up to $30,000 for qualified hires, in exchange for a two-year return of service agreement.
- Exploring virtual and hybrid emergency department service options, with the goal of establishing a pilot project in the north.
- Obtaining priority access to several new nurse staffing agencies to help reduce emergency department coverage gaps in the north.
- Conducting a consultation with emergency department staff and physicians to identify potential solutions.
- Establishing regular engagement between Northern Health’s CEO and regional municipal and Indigenous leaders to provide them with information about the work to reduce or eliminate emergency department service interruptions.
- The task force has worked to identify innovative ways to reduce emergency department service interruptions, including: Northern Health-specific recruitment incentives; expended use of GoHealthBC, agency and locum staff to fill vacant shifts; exploration of virtual services to augment in-person staff; and more.
-
- Since July 2024, Northern Health has seen a steady reduction in emergency department service interruptions compared to 2023. In the past six-month period (Aug. 1, 2024, to Jan. 31, 2025), Northern Health has seen 22% fewer emergency department service interruptions than during the same period the previous year (Aug. 1, 2023, to Jan. 31, 2024).
Comments